NASA – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

NASA to announce final determination on how to conclude Starliner Crew Flight Test

August 24, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is set to discuss the agency’s decision following a rare mid-mission, agency-level flight readiness review. A press conference will begin no earlier than an hour following the conclusion of the discussion.

Rocket Lab’s Mars-bound twin satellites – Blue and Gold – hit the road ahead of Blue Origin launch

August 16, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The twin spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, left Rocket Lab’s Long Beach facilities on Thursday to begin the trip to Florida. The EscaPADE mission will launch aboard Blue Origin’s first New Glenn rocket.

As it happened: NASA officials discuss latest on Boeing Crew Flight Test

August 14, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

This media briefing comes as NASA is potentially within a week of making its final decision on how to bring the Starliner CFT crew home. The agency is debating on if Starliner is determined to be safe or if NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmroe and Sunita “Sunni” Williams will return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

NASA sends final command to its NEOWISE spacecraft, ending more than a decade of asteroid observations

August 9, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The spacecraft launched in 2009 as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission before making the pivot to become NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) in 2010. NEOWISE is expected to safely burn up in the atmosphere by late 2024.

As it happened: NASA discusses ISS schedule shuffle, SpaceX Crew-9 launch delay, Boeing Starliner questions

August 7, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The media briefing came after the agency formally pushed back the launch of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station from mid-August to late-September.

NASA pushes Crew-9 launch to September amid uncertainty of Starliner’s return timeline

August 6, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The adjustment of the launch manifest is in line with NASA’s desire to have a direct handover between its two long-duration crews on the International Space Station.

Cygnus completes two-day journey to the International Space Station

August 5, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Northrop Grumman engineers were able to create a new burn plan for the spacecraft after it missed two attempts to perform its “targeted altitude burn.” Capture using the robotic Canadarm2 happened at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 UTC) on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Axiom Space’s fourth private astronaut crew named, begins training in Houston

August 5, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Ax-4 will mark the first time an astronaut from India or Poland visits the International Space Station. The mission will be commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, making her second trip to the ISS on behalf of Axiom Space.

NASA and SpaceX launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station

August 3, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission, dubbed NG-21, was the second out of three planned launches of a Cygnus spacecraft onboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff happened on Sunday, Aug. 4, at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC).

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 return to flight mission from the Kennedy Space Center

July 26, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The rocket launched more than 340 times successively and successfully before it encountered an issue with its upper stage on July 11. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-9 mission happened at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 UTC).